An ultra leader’s death caused bizarre scenes at San Siro on Saturday night and that included the emptying of the whole Curva Nord after halftime.
What caused the unfilled stand was the death of Vittorio Boiocchi, a boss of the Inter ultra’s. The Corriere della Sera reported that he had spent 26 years of his life in prison for kidnapping, theft and drug trafficking. Before Inter’s match on Saturday night, he was shot death in Milan.
As a tribute to their fallen leader, the present bosses ordered the Curva Nord to be empty for the second half. For the same reason they had already been unusually quiet in the first half, while there were also no flags and banners to be seen.
The scenes caused by the honouring were bizarre. As seen in the video below, the biggest part of the Curva Nord was empty just before the players came out for the second half. It felt like it all happened in a split second. The left part of the stand got completely empty as well later on, while on the right some people remained. According to various reports, fans, women and children were forcibly removed from their places during the clearing of the Curva.
This was not visible from the stand above the Curva Nord, however, multiple people could be seen going over to the fans that were still in their seats.
As the second half progressed, groups of fans started coming up to the stand above. They started occupying the free seats and the stairs, so it seems very logical to say that these people came from the Curva Nord. One of them could even been seen making a ‘shush’ sign towards the stand.
Inter said they ‘strongly condemn’ what went down at San Siro on Saturday night.
“The club fights against all kinds of violence in every venue, reaffirms the essential values of brotherhood, inclusion and anti-discrimination, and expresses it’s total solidarity to those fans who have been forced to give up what they hold most dear: love and passion for Inter.”
The Nerazzurri reiterated their total collaboration with the police to ensure protection of the rights of their fans.
Jurre van Wanrooij | GIFN
